What Do Home Stagers and Major League Baseball Players Have in Common?

Well it certainly is not our annual multi-million dollar contracts . . . or the papparazzi that follow us around! LOL

But seriously . . . I was out to dinner with my husband and friends on Sunday, and the Tampa Bay-Boston final series game was on television. We were seated at the bar waiting for our table, and people were shouting and yelling for their preferred team.

I said hello to the man seated next to me - he looked to be in his mid-50's - and as he watched the game he sort of whimsically said, "You know - those guys really have it great. They get to do something they have loved since childhood and make money at it."

Hmmm.

So I turned to him and said, "Well I may not make the multi-million dollar annual contracts of the baseball players, but I get to do something I love and have been passionate about since I was young."

He was intrigued - I told him about Home Staging, and found out he was an engineer (boring - to me anyway) and from the environmental business arena (where I used to work) . . .

Think about it - it's true. As Home Stagers, we get to use our creativity that we've had since we were very young, and make money and have a life because of it.

Most people (including me) were taught to get educated, get a good job, pay bills, and pursue something that helped make enough money to support the lifestyle we want.

When I found Home Staging as a viable business, it opened my eyes and my life to the possibilities of doing something I really enjoy. I hope to teach my kids that their passions are worth pursuing - and there are ways to make income doing something they love not just doing something for money.

There is a difference, as most of us know. Any of us that have ever worked for someone else doing something we really did not enjoy can attest to this truth.

I think there are many people that are following their passions and doing things they truly enjoy. The true test is to ask ourselves, "Do I see myself doing this for the rest of my life and if so, will I be happy?"

The best part of all is that we CAN earn good money as a Home Stager - it totally depends on how we build our business. We can be successful, we can even have "fans."

Home Run for Home Staging!

- Jennie

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To work with Home Stagers that are passionate about what they do to help you Stage your house or listing, call We Stage Sacramento - 1-888-WE-STAGE. Serving Placer, El Dorado and Sacramento Counties since 2002.

Staging Success Story - One Year on the Market - then Staged and SOLD!

This house was sitting languishing on the market for over a year. The Realtor had the listing the entire time - and was very frustrated at the lack of an offer. The Seller was not open to Staging - and so just sat on the market, month after month adjusting the price of the house as the only means of competing in a down market.

Finally - the Realtor decided to Stage the house - investing her own money to make it happen. God bless that Realtor. I am not a believer that the agent should have to pay for a vacant install, but in this case, the Realtor just wanted to get the house Sold. We worked with her tight budget and put key pieces in all major rooms to help the house look more updated and appealing.

We first advised painting out some areas that were distractions for buyers. This entrance to the family was pretty much what buyers first saw when they walked through the door. The Seller at first (who had moved out months prior) was reluctant to have the realtor's husband paint it - "I paid a lot of money for the gold gilded faux painting." You have moved out - remember? So the columns were painted.

We also removed the swags of burgundy fabric that shrouded all the windows. Some panels, some fringe, some sheer fabric - all burgundy, all old and dusty, all had to go. We also had some of the plastic fake fan fronds removed. What was underneath, although a little dated, was better than the plastic.

So there you have it - Staging helped to SELL this house that for a YEAR was overlooked. My only sad point to all this is that I wish the Seller and Realtor had decided to get it staged when it first came on the market. I estimate that because of lack of Staging, this house dropped $40K in price.

The investment in Staging was about $2,500 overall.

$40,000 or $2,500? Which is the better deal? You tell me!

In the short term, a Seller might think that Staging is not a good use of their money - because they think that their house will Sell quickly. Then over time, as PRICE becomes the only factor to bargain with in a declining market, the wisdom of Staging FIRST - comes back to haunt them.

Staging is the only service done in preparation of the house that brings measurable value. It helps a seller keep more of their equity and gets a house sold faster than the un-staged competition.

If only . . . well at least the house IS SOLD - it took 60 days to get a buyer even though immediately after the Staging, the neighbors were Raving about how good the house looked! New photos were taken, and the house had new LIFE as a product on the market. Our average DOM are at about 117.

Hopefully next time the seller will Stage first. Hopefully next time the Realtor will call us sooner than later. Gladly we have another Staging Success Story for We Stage Sacramento!
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We Stage Sacramento is your regional home staging expert resource for Vacant and Occupied Houses! Call us when you want to successfully Stage and SELL your listing or house! 1-888-WE-STAGE.

Do we need a 12-Step Program for Stagers?

I blogged back in July about Home Stagers having A.D.D. http://activerain.com/blogsview/585638/Do-Stagers-have-A
– and although I know most of us do not actually have that condition – I did think that Stagers enjoy staging because of the short term gratification element.

Along those same lines - I also believe that those of that have found our life passion with Staging are ADDicted to Staging.

What is an addict? Websters defines it as: A person who cannot resist a habit, especially the use of drugs or alcohol, for physiological or psychological reasons.

OK – let’s just remove the drugs and alcohol part – and put in “A person who cannot resist a habit, especially the use of Staging and creativity, for physiological and psychological reasons.” – and there you have it!

We that love Home Staging are Staging Addicts!

Does this mean we need our own 12-Step program for support? Having grown up in a 12-step household (so this is not in any way meant to demean the helpful groups that saved my family’s life), I can just hear the statements now at the weekly support groups – “SA – Stagers Anonymous.”

“Hello, my name is Jennie, and I am a Staging Addict.” Group: “Hello, Jennie.”

The 12 Steps would be launched with the statement:

1. I am powerless over Staging - and help declutter other houses so their lives will not be unmanageable.

2. Came to believe that a power greater than myself – Staging - could restore me and my clients’ houses to sanity.

Etcetera.

The truth is, like an addict, I CAN feel myself going through withdrawals when I have not had my hands in someone else’s house. My husband and kids notice it too – as I begin to “re-Stage” our own house – rearranging things, straightening, and fussing in the house – in order to make something “old new again.” It bothers them – they want to be able to leave a blanket on the ground or not put the centerpiece back where it belongs after playing our Wii. To me – I often don’t feel complete until my own house is back “in order” and yet I do have clutter – the kind that most families with children would have. Books, papers, collections, displayed school projects, and laundry – lots of laundry. And yet I recognize when I am crossing over to the addiction fix - I become sort of like a whirling dervish - spinning through my house cleaning, straightening, and re-doing displays. Time for a Staging project - FAST!


I do believe we that love Staging are ADDICTED to it - as one of my mentors proudly shared, "It gets in our blood stream - it's addictive." And yet I also know it is one of those "healthy" addictions. We are not harming anyone in the process of Staging (unless we drop a box on our toe), and we do help others to achieve their goals.


Now as I am writing this - I realize that as Home Stagers, we are addicted to Staging spaces and making houses more visually appealing, which is true. But what about the other role we play in this 12-Step world?


Think about it. Are we also codependent as Stagers? Do we do for others what they should do for themselves - but are not able? Yes we do. The decluttering, the proper presentation for the overwhelmed home seller - are all things the seller (or Realtor) are not able to do - and we come in and "save the day" with our plans, our creativity, our inventory, our knowledge.


Hmmm. I had not thought of that before now - but there is a grain of truth. We do help rescue the sale time and time again, offering up our solutions, telling our sellers not to be concerned - we'll take care of it - and allowing them to step aside and pass the responsibility for presentation of the house to us.


I guess we play both roles – we are the proverbial Addict and the Enabler. But the good news is that we are not hurting anyone in the process – we are helping. We are helping feed our own addiction and helping the Client achieve their goal of selling, even if it means we have to do the work ourselves.

Afterall - life should not be all boring - we have to have some FUN to feed our spirit - even if it is an addiction that can drive some of our family and friends crazy! And that is a whole other 12-step program.


SA unite!

Home Staging is Not For Sissies

Bette Davis once famously said, “Old Age is no place for Sissies.”

Well I think we can rephrase that statement to say,
“Home Staging is no place for Sissies.”

Definition of Sissy: A person defined as timid, weak or cowardly.

Professional home stagers know that in order to be successful you have to really work hard, and work smart. Being timid, weak or cowardly is a sure recipe for failure as a Home Stager.

We have to be bold, strong, and brave – especially in a market that is changing.

This does not mean we don’t have fear about rejection or discomfort in approaching people about our business. Fear is a natural part of any human – fear is normal, however we have to get past our fear and overcome it in order to have the success we want. We cannot let our fear paralyze us to the point of inaction.

We have to bold to get our message out to our audience. We have to, as the title of one of my favorite books says, “Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway.”

We have to be bold in our Staging as well – and make sure that our Staging really is Staging, not decorating or design, and not something done to appease a pushy client. We have to be bold and educate our clients about what home staging is – and what it is not, and begin to counter the things we see on television that are really harming us as Stagers. I have yet to see one show that truly depicts what we do as Stagers, that has not crossed the line into decorating, design, remodeling, and criticism.

Being bold in Staging also means reinventing our look from time to time so that our Staging does not get stale or predictable. It means having fun with what we do and use our creativity in situations where others would give up – and go shopping. I love that part of being a home stager – that I was taught to use creativity first, and then the dollar, to help clients. It is a challenge we rise to time and time again, to the delight of our clients and Realtors who never thought the house could look so great, and never thought of using items in the way we used them in the staging process.

We have to be strong – physically and mentally.

Physical strength is needed. I did not realize how much physical activity it would take to be successful in Staging. I am a strong woman – I always have been. I was a dancer in my younger years and played all sorts of sports and have an arm that would rival good quarterbacks. With a team partner I have moved whole houses of furniture in to vacant staging projects, and have loaded and unloaded trucks, and warehouses. It is a prerequisite of our job to be strong physically, and the good news is for those that do not have the physical strength, we can hire help!

I got smarter as I grew my business, and we do hire labor for moving things – heck, I only have one back, and I don’t want to tweak it out because of Staging (and I have J). I have suffered sore back, tennis elbow, broken toes, scrapes, bruises, and the near loss of an eye from a flying bungee (hit my lip instead and split it open). Once those things happen, you tend to reassess the wisdom of “doing it all alone” to save money, and begin to stage smarter.

Hiring help actually helped us stage faster, smarter and kept us from getting overly tired and injured. So we actually are able to accomplish more in one day than in the past. I have always said, as long as have our minds and can envision the plan for Staging, we can stage.

Mental strength to me is more important than physical strength. With so many people jumping in to the Staging market, it is now about mental sharpness, and being able to deliver a message of WHY a person needs to work with my company or me as a Stager, versus someone else. Positioning.

It requires staying on top of the real estate market and trends, and responding in kind to keep business flowing. It also requires a constant positive attitude adjustment so that I don’t end up locking myself up in fear, or analysis paralysis – both also the kiss of death for Stagers. I don’t bury my head in the sand and ignore what is obviously happening with our economy, I ask, “How will this affect our business, and what can I do to help stimulate production?”

It always boils down to marketing – and so I find ways to entice clients to use our services and remind them of the benefits of Staging versus sitting on the market.

And we have to be brave – of course, our Staging does not take the bravery of our armed forces, but we do have to have a sense or courage and bravery when we go out to promote our business. We have to have courage in the face of economic times where financial disaster seems to be looming around every corner. We have to be brave and delve in to new market niches – and be willing to reinvent ourselves to respond to the market and the needs of customers. We have to have the courage to keep a positive attitude when everything and everyone around us might be telling us doom and gloom information.

The natural tendency for most humans is to hunker down and wait it out – but waiting in our business, means not doing face time, and not getting out there to go after business, and this is too risky for us as Stagers. In tough times, we have to be out there even MORE than in the past- because our business is built on relationships, and when we are out of sight, we are out of mind. That then leaves potential opportunities for Staging up for grabs for the person that is out there, a presence in person, and actively asking for business.

So sissy stagers will fall away in these tough times, and the strong will survive. This is the way it with all species – it’s called, Survival of the Fittest.

When this economy turns around (and it will), we will find ourselves with even more ways to serve our clients, the ability to earn even more than we ever thought possible, and the strength to keep Staging day by day.

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We Stage Sacramento is a full-service Home Staging company serving the Greater Sacramento market. For over six years we have been helping sellers, builders and Realtors prepare houses for sale, successfully staging over 2,500 properties. Our Services also include services for redesign, holiday staging, and workplace staging. We are members of the International Association of Home Staging Professionals (IAHSP) and Accredited as ASP Home Stagers. Call us at 888-WE-STAGE or www.WeStageSacramento.com

Home Staging - Stage it Right with We Stage Sacramento

When you want to Stage your house, contact the professionals at We Stage Sacramento. With the most years of experience in our region, and the most expertise of any company in the area, we are the right choice for your Staging needs.

Some stagers want to force you to rent expensive inventory to help "showcase" your house, but the truth is, unless your furniture has been totally chewed up by the dog, or is missing a leg or two, it is probably just fine. This is because Staging is not about Decorating. We are not selling your things, we are selling your house. We do want your house to present well - and so the experts at We Stage Sacramento have a few tricks up our sleeves to help present any house in its best form including slip covers, artwork, area rugs for color, and creativity to know to best use your things, and combine our decor only when needed.

There are other Stagers that dabble in Staging because "it's fun!" - and they are hobbyists. They are probably not insured to protect you, your house and their things eitehr because as a hobbyist they don't want to invest the hundreds of dollars annually to provide proper insurance. This means "Buyer Beware." In fact, you need to ASK to see the valid insurance policy before hiring any home stager. When a lit candle "prop" that is not blown out can burn your house to the ground, don't you want to make sure there is someone responsible financially behind the Staging? We Stage Sacramento is fully insured to protect our clients.

There are other Stagers that woke up one day and decided to "be" a Stager. Maybe they watched a bunch of episodes of HGTV, and then "voila!" they found their calling. They printed off business cards at home, and set up shop. No training, no code of ethics, no accoutability. So when they mishandle your project or client, there is no recourse for you - because they don't answer to anyone else. This is risky for you.

Make sure that the Stager you choose has training - and the best training out there is through Stagedhomes.com and the Accredited Staging Professional (ASP) Course. Developed by Barb Schwarz, the Creator of Home Staging, the ASP Course is the most thorough and professional course for home stagers. Others out there have either copied (poorly, I might add) her format, content and ideas, or come up with their own by deviating away from the roots of Home Staging and focusing instead on things like feng shui, decorating, and design. All We Stage Sacramento team members are ASP Graduates and we attend our annual Home Staging convention for the latest ideas and services for Staging.

There are Stagers out there that also don't believe in professional associations for ongoing learning and networking. This is also a sign of someone that does not want to be accountable, nor grow in their skills. Our team are members of the International Association of Home Staging Professionals (IAHSP), the first and only professional association serving the Home Staging industry internationally. Requirements to join include educational and professional standards of excellence. There are other groups out there, but they let anyone in - with no professional standards needed. Again, this is risky. Stick with those that are part of a proven group that has standards and sets the quality level for the industry.

Staging it right means Staging with We Stage Sacramento - as we fit all the criteria listed above. Check out other stagers. They are either part-timers, Realtors that dabble in Staging, or hobbyists. There are very few full-time Stagers in our market. I am proud to blog about our team - we are dedicated to Staging, and are still standing proud in our Staging shoes even with the toughest market we have faced in the six years we've been serving the Sacramento region.